Yesterday was my wife’s birthday. I won’t say which one, but I will say she doesn’t generally like birthday parties, though she loves birthdays. She decided it would be nice to have some people over, though, so we had about 8 people over to help celebrate.
I let her tell me what she wanted for dinner, and she decided on lobster. I decided on grilling then, and that was a good choice, as it was a really hot day (around 90), and I didn’t want to steam up the house.
To do lobsters without all the steam, though, means either buy lobster tails that are already removed from the lobster or to kill the lobsters a different way. Being adventurous, I decided on live lobsters. Kroger actually had some nice ones, and they were fighters! We brought them home and put them in a cooler with some ice for a couple of hours… the sooner to cooking that you get them, the better, and the more they fight, the better they’re supposed to taste (I don’t know if this is true or not).
I found a website on how to kill a live lobster, though I’d seen Bobby Flay do it, too. What neither of these showed was the fact that this bugs move around a LOT!!! The website does warn to leave the rubber bands on… The lobsters would likely be trying to get you otherwise!
So first you need a knife with some real heft to it. I used a Shun 10" chef’s knife… plenty of tool for the job. I found the spot behind the eyes to cut, and just pushed the point through. When I did, some sort of fluid went everywhere… Nothing too gross, though. Then I chopped through to the cutting board. The funny thing is, this is when the lobster REALLY start to move. I turned the first one over right away, and the tail was flapping pretty fast!
They say (whoever ‘they’ are) that lobsters dont’ have pain receptors, but, boy, did these things move around!
Once the first cut is made to kill the lobster, the lobster gets turned over, and one of two things can be done. 
Since I was feeding 5 lobsters to 10 people, I cut them in half by basically bisecting the bodies all the way through. If I were feeding 1 lobster to each person, I would have cut through the meat, but left the shell so I could kind of butterfly them. I also removed the claws, and cracked them a bit with the back of the knife so that steam could be released. Sorry, but the picture isn’t completely in focus, but you get the idea.
Once the bugs were taken care of, I put them on the grill, shell side down, until the shell turned pink, then I turned them over for about 3 more minutes to finish cooking the meat. After they were done, I put the lobsters shell down on the cool part of the grill and loaded them up with basil butter to let it melt. Then I put them on a platter and served!
We also had a few porterhouse steaks. I cooked 3 of them, from rare to medium, and I cut the strip and tenderloin out of each one, sliced them, then put the steaks back together, drizzled with olive oil, for presentation and serving. They were GREAT porterhouse steaks!
Wow- that looks great. I know she ( and the guest) enjoyed this one. Tell her Happy birthday for me.
Sylvie
Sylvie, I’ll pass on your birthday wishes to my wife… she enjoyed the day, and we ended it with ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery… good stuff!
First of all Happy Birthday to your wife. Second, my birthday is in October and lobster with Porterhouse sure sounds good =) Seriously that looks amazing. Great job. When is the restaurant opening? =)
Todd
PS You got to love Cold Stone Creamery.
Todd, depending on when in October, you could hire a personal chef to come up and cook.
It’s more fun to do yourself, though, isnt it?
I’ve had friends ask about the restaurant thing… but my passion is for the cooking, not for the other stuff (insurance, labor issues, regulations, paperwork). Plus, if I had to cook the same thing day in and day out, I’d probably get bored with it.
and my favorite at Cold Stone is the Coffee Lovers Only, with added cinnamon… just tough to beat!
Great Article. I referenced it on my site so all of my readers can check it out. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the reference! Did you see the blog idea I had on the brethren site? Would you and 4 q be in on something like that?
Well now I’ve got an idea on what to do for my wife’s birthday! Nice article and pics!
Curt, Happy B’day to your wife. WOW!!! what a meal. Everything looks great. Nice touch with the steaks, hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for the coming sauce also.
Man – that looks awesome. It’s just about 1:00 in the morning and you’ve got me craving lobsters!
Won’t it be great when you can download a taste, too?
I’m probably going to revisit this one before too long… mainly to get video of the lobster process. And mainly because, as much as I looked, NOBODY mentioned how much the lobsters move around. It’s not bad, but it’s nice to see what it’s like before you try it yourself.
For starters tell your wife Happy B-Day for me.
Now for the food WOW that looks real good.
Thanks for the step by step on te lobster.
Any of that food coming to Grandrapids?
Ed, we’re doing smoked pizza for Grand Rapids anything butt category. We’re also working on dessert and beans… I think I have the beans ready to go… Dessert, we’re not sure about yet… We may do a free-form apple pie.
That steak almost looks out of place around those beautiful crusteaceans.
Surf and turf. Gotta love it.
Adam, trust me, it all went together just great!